January 29, 2005

"Rarely does a comedy come along that deserves to be taken seriously."

Chris sends a link to this Oscar ad he finds offensive. It's not only offensive, it's stupid. Presumably, the Academy members who will be voting for the winner have worked hard making comedies, and they're being told all those movies they worked so hard on are mere fluff. I'm sure the ad writer was thinking something along these lines: Comedies rarely get the Oscar, because people assume they aren't as momentous as dramas; we want the voters to remember to give respect to comedies; let's remind them of the greatness of the few comedies that have won the Best Picture award in the last 45 years; and let's try to create the feeling that "Sideways" belongs in that group. So they write the slogan, and they never step back and ask whether they are saying anything else that they don't mean to say. How inept!

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